This Week in Weird, Nov. 27

Man bites off someone’s ears, separated siblings find each other through Facebook and more in this week’s edition.

Massachusetts man arrested for biting off man’s ears during fight

WEYMOUTH, Mass. - A Hingham man was arrested last Saturday after Weymouth police said he bit off pieces of a man’s ears during a fight.

Officers arrived at South Shore Hospital at 12:30 a.m. Saturday to speak with the victim, who told them he had been in a fight with Andrew MacDonald.

During the fight, which he said stemmed from an ongoing dispute between the two, large parts of both his ears were bitten off. Friends retrieved the body parts and brought him to South Shore Hospital. He was later transferred to a Boston hospital.

MacDonald, 19, was arrested and charged with two counts of mayhem. He was released after posting $10,000 bail.

Owner recovers missing dog after helicopter search

BERWYN, Ill. - A dog has been returned to its owner after he offered a $3,000 reward and chartered a helicopter to look for his missing four-legged friend.

Last week, Casey, a 3-year-old chow/shepherd mix, jumped the fence from his pet sitter’s yard in Berwyn.

Since then, Shawn DeAmicis, the dog’s owner, chartered a helicopter to look for his lost pup and made 25,000 lost-dog telephone calls to residents.

The 33-pound dog resembles a small coyote and was spotted in Berwyn, North Riverside and Riverside throughout the week. Tuesday night, DeAmicis received a call from an Oak Park resident who had found the dog north of Interstate 290, according to DeAmicis’ pet sitter.

DeAmicis and his dog were reunited shortly thereafter.

Ohio man accused of stealing cell phone, stalking owner for a date

GREEN, Ohio - When a Barberton woman couldn’t find her cell phone after a night of dancing, she figured it was lost — until she started getting calls from a man demanding a date and telling her he would return the phone.

Summit County sheriff’s deputies arrested the man Tuesday in a Green restaurant, accusing him of stalking the woman.

Sgt. Scott Cottle of the sheriff’s department said the woman told deputies in Coventry Township on Monday that her cell phone had been stolen, and that an unknown man was sending text messages to her new phone demanding a romantic date. The man had promised that he would return the phone then.

Cottle said the man also insisted that she bring no one with her, causing the woman extra concern.

Deputies conducted an undercover operation at Panera Bread in Green, where the man came Tuesday thinking he was meeting the woman for a date, Cottle said.

The man — identified as Randy Willgues, 32, of Cuyahoga Falls — began “fighting with deputies in an effort to flee,” he said.

Willgues was booked into the Summit County Jail on charges of receiving stolen property, menacing by stalking and resisting arrest.

Separated siblings find each other through Facebook

MANSFIELD, Mass. - After two decades apart, Melissa Greene of Mansfield and her sister Katie Crawford never thought they would see their half-sister and brother again. But they recently found the half-sister, Raquel Rose, in the very town Green lives in.

“We never thought we would be able to find Raquel,” said Katie. “We never knew if she was looking for us, and she never knew if we had cared to look for her.”

Prior to having children with their mother, Katie and Melissa’s father, Gary Rose, had been involved in a serious relationship with another woman, with whom he had two children, a daughter, Raquel Rose, and a son, Stephen Rose.

“I had always thought about them and I had always wanted to find them,” Melissa said.

Up until they were toddlers, Katie and Melissa spent time with their two older half-siblings during visits to their paternal grandmother’s house. However, when the two were 3 and 4, respectively, the relationship with their older half-siblings abruptly ceased.

In what can only be called a holiday miracle, Katie and Melissa, now both in their mid-20s, were reunited with Raquel on Nov. 12.

Putting her 21st-century sleuthing skills to the test, Melissa conducted a search for Raquel on Facebook.

“I looked under Raquel Rose, even though I wasn’t sure if she had changed her last name,” Melissa said. “She was about the second person that came up.”

To confirm that the Raquel Rose she had found on Facebook was indeed her sister, Melissa sent a message to the user’s account.

“I was at work and I get this message on my phone from a Melissa asking if my father’s name was Gary,” Raquel said.

Slightly taken aback, Melissa responded hesitantly.

“When I got the message I was like ‘Yes my father’s name was Gary and he has passed away. Why are you asking?’” Raquel said. “After I sent the message I thought, ‘Is this going to be my sister?’”

About 25 minutes later, Raquel received a response from Melissa confirming what she felt all along in her heart was true. Melissa was her sister.

Pregnant woman wants out of jail for delivery

BATH, N.Y. - The decision of whether or not a woman will give birth in the Steuben County jail now lies with the New York State Department of Correctional Services.

On Oct. 27 Amber Lynn Hollar, 22, of Hornell, was sentenced to one year in jail by Hornell city court Judge Joseph Damrath after she failed out of Hornell drug court.

According to court records, Hollar was enrolled in the drug court program for a guilty plea to third-degree forgery — a class D felony punishable by up to seven years in prison.

The plea satisfied the charges of second-degree forgery and criminal possession of a forged instrument that stemmed from an Aug. 19 incident involving checks at the P&C grocery store in Hornell.

Hollar was reportedly not pregnant when she entered drug court. She is scheduled to give birth in December.

Ordway said his office doesn’t have any say over the woman’s fate, but if she has to give birth while incarcerated it will be costly. He said the medical costs the jail will be forced to pay for her labor and an extra guard to watch Hollar while she is at the hospital will likely cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Ordway said if she decides to keep the baby through the duration of her sentence, the jail will have to pay for diapers, baby formula and other items as well.

Ordway said he consulted the Steuben County District Attorney’s Office about the case and he is doing what he can to make sure the woman does not give birth while incarcerated.